"2570-27" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 8 - The Queen Of Time)THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Seven "Where?" Hope breathed, Carol's arm around her shoulders. The short skirted brownette now "older" than when I'd seen her before, but still capable I suspected of giving me a "hard time"! Carol having even taught me a few things about irregular warfare! She is the sort of a woman who has no "doubts" about herself too. "Arsana," the Priestess spoke, blonde like Tais, a gold ankh on its chain hanging between her breasts. I recalled then that I had promised to debate the political radicals in the Senate here. Bob looking around, giving the High Priestess a smile in return. Like most Priestesses I've seen, she was a bit "flat chested" due to having been "desexed" before puberty as is generally done. This is not something commonly known, perhaps because the Priest- esses themselves do not wish it to be known to those they "rule". On the other hand such a policy is perhaps "wiser" than you know, doubtlessly saving them from certain "embarrassing incidents"... "Night again," I said, wondering if it was still the same night that I'd been teleported back to the 24th Century where I'd spent the night and most of the next day before being teleported back to this time. Fortunately Tais hadn't told Bob and Carol of how I'd gotten Hope and myself into a "situation" that could have senselessly resulted too in both our deaths in some tavern brawl! Just because I was too "confident" in my own fighting abilities!! "Dularn," Carol breathed, her eyes "glistening" a bit here. Here she'd once been a "Warlady", not just a "housewife" like she was back in the 21st Century or earlier in the 20th Century. Bob and Carol were good friends of Janet Rogers, I knew, although I'd understood from Hope that they didn't have any actual "role" in the administration as such except perhaps as "advisors" to Janet. "What year was it in your time?" I asked, curious to know. "2019," Bob smiled, giving his now royal daughter a hug. "I'll see if I can find us a taxi carriage," I smiled. "Doesn't `look' any `different'," Bob said to me as I nodded back, his wife sitting there quietly at his side, perhaps well aware that this would only be a brief "visit" to a land they had learned to love. Recalling too what Maris had told me of finding their last remains the year before, proof that they had finally "come home" back to the land they'd both so loved despite it all! "And my daughter is now a `Queen' in her own country," Carol said, her eyes wet with tears as she now regarded Hope beside me. The still famous brownette no longer quite as "provocative" as she'd once been when I remembered her, but still a woman even at her age that might yet turn a male head from time to time here... The provocative "shortness" of her leather skirt having drawn the attention of the carriage's driver, who had perhaps believed that she was a prostitute, only such here wearing a skirt that short!! "Just `where' are you people from?" the driver interjected! "They are `friends' of the Queen of Trelandar," I retorted! The driver making no further "comment" here as we rattled along, the cobblestoned streets of Arsana little different than those of Trella in this regard, both "my" Trella and "Hope's" own Trella. The Moon shining down upon us as the cool breezes of evening drove away the heat of the day, it having been a warm late June. "How!?" captain Tori Wells gasped as Bob helped Carol down from the carriage, the officer now "recognizing" her old Warlady! The brownette's attire, her strap boots the mark in this era of a woman who "sold" herself, although in the 21st Century such "at- tire" did not imply anything of the sort. The prostitute of the 21st Century often then wearing attire more suited for the beach! "Still keeping a good watch?" Carol teased Tori in reply. "By Lys its good to see you again!" Tori breathed back. "I'm just a `visitor' this time," Carol informed Tori. "It's a `different' world now," Maris' officer smiled. "With `age' comes `wisdom'," I smiled, Bob nodding back. "Seems almost if Tais is now building up an `expeditionary force'," Darlanis mused, the Empress swirling the brandy there in her goblet. The hour late, near midnight, the Moon shining down upon the now sleeping city of Arsana. The thought going through my mind that seventy eight years from now great tidal waves would wash over Dularn. Mile high waves as the neutron star yanked the Earth out of its orbit around the sun and dragged it off into the cold icy depths of interstellar space. Only in the center of the land masses, using the technology of the Priestesses and that of the Women and the Lorr could any survive by tunneling beneath the surface down to the internal heat yet stored under the surface... "To where?" Janet Rogers asked, the same "thought" going through my mind. I rather doubted it, as it seemed more "likely" here that Tais just wanted to make sure that we'd stop Princess Tara's latest attempt to overthrow our societies in favor of the sort of "disorder" that would allow her to gain "dominion" of at least one of our countries, perhaps Orgon, now torn politically. "More likely Tais is trying to teach us to work together," I ventured, glancing at Bob and Carol sitting there with Hope. I'd once crossed blades with Carol, held her life in the palm of my hand. Marked her face with my point in a way that would leave no doubts that she'd been "bested". That had been my revenge on her for what she'd done to my ships, to my own "reputation" there... Now all that "hatred" was gone, and I could see Carol as just a woman who had been "used" by Tais for her own political purposes. "She's only got seventy eight years to `civilize' us here," I now added, not really thinking of what I was saying to them all here! "And `WHAT' happens `seventy eight' years from now!?" Maris "asked", her eyes, as green as emeralds, glowing hotly into mine. The others save now but Janet Rogers, all "staring" right at me! "Is the EVIL ONE returning to Earth?" she ventured, such being a "prediction" there in the BOOK OF LYS that'd come true last year! "A neutron star passes through the solar system in 2648 and drags the Earth out of its orbit," I replied, Janet nodding back. Telling them what I'd seen for myself aboard the Gaia when the ship had accidentally traveled too far "forward" into the future. "The destruction caused by the Earth being dragged out of its orbit around the sun would in many ways `exceed' that of The War," Bob spoke up, glancing at Janet Rogers, who nodded in turn. "There would be great tidal waves miles high that would sweep for perhaps hundreds of miles inland, terrible earthquakes like noth- ing Mankind has ever experienced before, perhaps the rise of new mountain ranges, thousands of volcanoes pouring out molten lava." "I think I'd better not `plan' on having children," Maris said, the look on her face leaving no doubts as to her feelings. "I believe that Tais plans to transport a portion of Mankind back in time, send other portions to other worlds," I ventured... "There is some `evidence' from history that this did `happen'," I added now, recalling the conversations I'd had earlier with Hope. "We know for example that the American Indians seemed to adapt to the horse far faster than what one normally would have expected," I explained, such indicating to me at least that perhaps some of the Nevadas and Wyomings were sent back to the Sixteenth Century. "The question has never been `answered' either why we of the western coast of North America managed to rebuild some sort of a civilization when those elsewhere failed to do so," Darlanis ven- tured, raising a "point" that had puzzled me off and on now too! There was an "Empire" in Europe, but I knew little about it ex- cept for what Yvette had been able to tell me about it years ago. Mexico and parts of South America had managed to build some sort of a "civilization", but most of these were little "higher" than those once "raised" by the American Indians there centuries ago. There was some sort of "civilization" in China and Japan, but in this case too they had not reached the "levels" that we had here, perhaps because they had not had the "advantage" of having "me"!* * I am of course "responsible" for all the "advanced" technology, although Dularnian Builders did manage to reproduce the various crossbows and compound longbows used back in the 21st Century... "The Lorr `knew' of the `Gaia' for centuries, but never were able to determine `where' it came from," I said, recalling what Aurora had once told me. The Priestesses of Lys of this time be- ing of course "The Others" that the Lorr had always so "feared"! "There is a `problem' in that those of our future would have knowledge not a part of the time to which they were sent," Sharon mused thoughtfully, looking now at me and then over at Darlanis. "The Priestesses can `take care' of `that'," Carol smiled. "I hated you for what you `did' with Hope until Tais told me `why'," Carol said to me after the others had retired for the night, Bob standing there patiently waiting for his wife to come. "You did an excellent job of raising her," I smiled back, remembering her courage and bravery when we "crossed" the ruins. "At least she escaped The War," Carol mused thoughtfully. "I'm glad we had this chance to see each other," I said. "I am too," the former Warlady of Dularn replied back. THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Seven "Where?" Hope breathed, Carol's arm around her shoulders. The short skirted brownette now "older" than when I'd seen her before, but still capable I suspected of giving me a "hard time"! Carol having even taught me a few things about irregular warfare! She is the sort of a woman who has no "doubts" about herself too. "Arsana," the Priestess spoke, blonde like Tais, a gold ankh on its chain hanging between her breasts. I recalled then that I had promised to debate the political radicals in the Senate here. Bob looking around, giving the High Priestess a smile in return. Like most Priestesses I've seen, she was a bit "flat chested" due to having been "desexed" before puberty as is generally done. This is not something commonly known, perhaps because the Priest- esses themselves do not wish it to be known to those they "rule". On the other hand such a policy is perhaps "wiser" than you know, doubtlessly saving them from certain "embarrassing incidents"... "Night again," I said, wondering if it was still the same night that I'd been teleported back to the 24th Century where I'd spent the night and most of the next day before being teleported back to this time. Fortunately Tais hadn't told Bob and Carol of how I'd gotten Hope and myself into a "situation" that could have senselessly resulted too in both our deaths in some tavern brawl! Just because I was too "confident" in my own fighting abilities!! "Dularn," Carol breathed, her eyes "glistening" a bit here. Here she'd once been a "Warlady", not just a "housewife" like she was back in the 21st Century or earlier in the 20th Century. Bob and Carol were good friends of Janet Rogers, I knew, although I'd understood from Hope that they didn't have any actual "role" in the administration as such except perhaps as "advisors" to Janet. "What year was it in your time?" I asked, curious to know. "2019," Bob smiled, giving his now royal daughter a hug. "I'll see if I can find us a taxi carriage," I smiled. "Doesn't `look' any `different'," Bob said to me as I nodded back, his wife sitting there quietly at his side, perhaps well aware that this would only be a brief "visit" to a land they had learned to love. Recalling too what Maris had told me of finding their last remains the year before, proof that they had finally "come home" back to the land they'd both so loved despite it all! "And my daughter is now a `Queen' in her own country," Carol said, her eyes wet with tears as she now regarded Hope beside me. The still famous brownette no longer quite as "provocative" as she'd once been when I remembered her, but still a woman even at her age that might yet turn a male head from time to time here... The provocative "shortness" of her leather skirt having drawn the attention of the carriage's driver, who had perhaps believed that she was a prostitute, only such here wearing a skirt that short!! "Just `where' are you people from?" the driver interjected! "They are `friends' of the Queen of Trelandar," I retorted! The driver making no further "comment" here as we rattled along, the cobblestoned streets of Arsana little different than those of Trella in this regard, both "my" Trella and "Hope's" own Trella. The Moon shining down upon us as the cool breezes of evening drove away the heat of the day, it having been a warm late June. "How!?" captain Tori Wells gasped as Bob helped Carol down from the carriage, the officer now "recognizing" her old Warlady! The brownette's attire, her strap boots the mark in this era of a woman who "sold" herself, although in the 21st Century such "at- tire" did not imply anything of the sort. The prostitute of the 21st Century often then wearing attire more suited for the beach! "Still keeping a good watch?" Carol teased Tori in reply. "By Lys its good to see you again!" Tori breathed back. "I'm just a `visitor' this time," Carol informed Tori. "It's a `different' world now," Maris' officer smiled. "With `age' comes `wisdom'," I smiled, Bob nodding back. "Seems almost if Tais is now building up an `expeditionary force'," Darlanis mused, the Empress swirling the brandy there in her goblet. The hour late, near midnight, the Moon shining down upon the now sleeping city of Arsana. The thought going through my mind that seventy eight years from now great tidal waves would wash over Dularn. Mile high waves as the neutron star yanked the Earth out of its orbit around the sun and dragged it off into the cold icy depths of interstellar space. Only in the center of the land masses, using the technology of the Priestesses and that of the Women and the Lorr could any survive by tunneling beneath the surface down to the internal heat yet stored under the surface... "To where?" Janet Rogers asked, the same "thought" going through my mind. I rather doubted it, as it seemed more "likely" here that Tais just wanted to make sure that we'd stop Princess Tara's latest attempt to overthrow our societies in favor of the sort of "disorder" that would allow her to gain "dominion" of at least one of our countries, perhaps Orgon, now torn politically. "More likely Tais is trying to teach us to work together," I ventured, glancing at Bob and Carol sitting there with Hope. I'd once crossed blades with Carol, held her life in the palm of my hand. Marked her face with my point in a way that would leave no doubts that she'd been "bested". That had been my revenge on her for what she'd done to my ships, to my own "reputation" there... Now all that "hatred" was gone, and I could see Carol as just a woman who had been "used" by Tais for her own political purposes. "She's only got seventy eight years to `civilize' us here," I now added, not really thinking of what I was saying to them all here! "And `WHAT' happens `seventy eight' years from now!?" Maris "asked", her eyes, as green as emeralds, glowing hotly into mine. The others save now but Janet Rogers, all "staring" right at me! "Is the EVIL ONE returning to Earth?" she ventured, such being a "prediction" there in the BOOK OF LYS that'd come true last year! "A neutron star passes through the solar system in 2648 and drags the Earth out of its orbit," I replied, Janet nodding back. Telling them what I'd seen for myself aboard the Gaia when the ship had accidentally traveled too far "forward" into the future. "The destruction caused by the Earth being dragged out of its orbit around the sun would in many ways `exceed' that of The War," Bob spoke up, glancing at Janet Rogers, who nodded in turn. "There would be great tidal waves miles high that would sweep for perhaps hundreds of miles inland, terrible earthquakes like noth- ing Mankind has ever experienced before, perhaps the rise of new mountain ranges, thousands of volcanoes pouring out molten lava." "I think I'd better not `plan' on having children," Maris said, the look on her face leaving no doubts as to her feelings. "I believe that Tais plans to transport a portion of Mankind back in time, send other portions to other worlds," I ventured... "There is some `evidence' from history that this did `happen'," I added now, recalling the conversations I'd had earlier with Hope. "We know for example that the American Indians seemed to adapt to the horse far faster than what one normally would have expected," I explained, such indicating to me at least that perhaps some of the Nevadas and Wyomings were sent back to the Sixteenth Century. "The question has never been `answered' either why we of the western coast of North America managed to rebuild some sort of a civilization when those elsewhere failed to do so," Darlanis ven- tured, raising a "point" that had puzzled me off and on now too! There was an "Empire" in Europe, but I knew little about it ex- cept for what Yvette had been able to tell me about it years ago. Mexico and parts of South America had managed to build some sort of a "civilization", but most of these were little "higher" than those once "raised" by the American Indians there centuries ago. There was some sort of "civilization" in China and Japan, but in this case too they had not reached the "levels" that we had here, perhaps because they had not had the "advantage" of having "me"!* * I am of course "responsible" for all the "advanced" technology, although Dularnian Builders did manage to reproduce the various crossbows and compound longbows used back in the 21st Century... "The Lorr `knew' of the `Gaia' for centuries, but never were able to determine `where' it came from," I said, recalling what Aurora had once told me. The Priestesses of Lys of this time be- ing of course "The Others" that the Lorr had always so "feared"! "There is a `problem' in that those of our future would have knowledge not a part of the time to which they were sent," Sharon mused thoughtfully, looking now at me and then over at Darlanis. "The Priestesses can `take care' of `that'," Carol smiled. "I hated you for what you `did' with Hope until Tais told me `why'," Carol said to me after the others had retired for the night, Bob standing there patiently waiting for his wife to come. "You did an excellent job of raising her," I smiled back, remembering her courage and bravery when we "crossed" the ruins. "At least she escaped The War," Carol mused thoughtfully. "I'm glad we had this chance to see each other," I said. "I am too," the former Warlady of Dularn replied back. |
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